Tips for staying sane in the aftermath of the 2016 US Election

In the fear there is a golden opportunity

That sentence could apply to almost any year, couldn’t it? Globalism and diversity create a push-back for many people, sending them towards a feeling of national ownership—the “we belong here, they don’t” story. So, lots of chaos and divisive sentiment, not just in the USA of course; we have seen similar movements happening recently in the UK, France, Denmark, etc.

Let’s recap what is happening in the US.

To begin with, we can see the strange rise of Trump. This was partly encouraged by the Democratic National Committee pushing Hillary. Thanks to WikiLeaks we found that the DNC had a strong desire to keep Bernie Sanders from being the leader of the party. Also, in two years the Hillary camp never targeted their audience appropriately. The American people love authenticity, love personality, love celebrity, love a good story. The Hillary camp never succeeded in showing the people the authentic Hillary story. There is a good story there, they just never capitalized on it. They had half a billion dollars, yet they never landed the marketing. They did, however, capitalize on the media making fun of Trump. The adage, “all media is good media,” is not a new concept, and the media (including the DNC machine) gave attention to Trump. Lots and lots of attention. So, major miss on the Hillary campaign, consistently, over 2 years.

Never the less, more than 50% of voters in the United States voted for her. The electoral college process, which tries to create an equal voice for states with less population, ultimately resulted in the win for Trump.

So where do we go now?

I think it’s worth pointing out that the shock will wear off soon, and in the unknown space leading up to Trump taking office on January 20th, we will have a strong lure in our system to gravitate to fear. The unknown is the edge that fear uses—it’s the main stronghold of fear.

And we are going to be in the unknown for awhile yet.

It’s going to take a full year to see what happens once this narcissist sociopath—I think it’s fair to say that as he is fully out of the closet with these psychologies—takes office and gets streamlined into the governing process.

Many folks like to say that the President of the United States actually has very little power. People like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Larry Page, even Oprah, Ellen, and Chris Sacca could be considered bigger influences. And is Trump really just a puppet for the Republican majority Congress, White House, Supreme Courts? Is Mike Pence really going to do the job? It is all unknown.

And so how do we personally deal with the unknown?

Lets notice where that contraction of fear is. We are seeing it on the streets, and places like New York where the fear is boiling over. We are seeing the Trump camp project “OTHER” on our citizens and using that as an excuse for violence. And we are seeing the same with the Anti-Trump camp. A big projection of “other is ignorant, blind, racist,” etc.

So, we can all notice how we are indulging and projecting stories of fear and despair, and how we might be lured into those stories by the media, who will endlessly spin and spin and spin this story. We might stop using our own clarity and start to get influenced by the fear all over this.

Or we could let this contraction that we are all feeling relax. Better yet, we could imagine opening this contraction into stillness. Stillness is where clarity lives. And what we really need right now is clarity. And clarity can dawn for each of us uniquely.

For many, we are seeing it as a movement of protest. For others, it was true to express some real heartbreak. I can see in both these cases some sense of right action. I can see them like an apology to the global world. A clear statement that says: “We didn’t want this to happen, we didn’t want to abandon you, or our own citizens who are vulnerable, or the earth. We don’t want pull out of all our peacekeeping efforts, trade partnerships, and investment commitments. People of the world, the majority of Americans don’t want this.”

But what is your clarity?

For myself, I started to notice some things. I noticed, just like many of you, the vote for Trump came from people moving primary from fear, sure. And I have so much compassion for people under fear. It is terrible to think fear is real and to have such little access to clarity. So, compassion those of us who are so afraid of the unknown. “May all beings be free…”

But also, a lot of the Trump votes were not for Trump per se, but for an America that has a much smaller government. An America that really values personal freedom. I noticed Trump’s 100 day plan could be seen from a birds-eye view to be about boundaries. And the America of the American Dream is an America that gives each citizen tremendous personal freedom, especially personal freedom in our own homes and property. Personal freedom to educate, earn, protect, and heal according to each of our own values and abilities. And in that vision, the government has a very small role in those things. But is building a huge wall a successful way to create boundaries? East and West Berlin? Great Wall of China? Israeli West Bank Barrier? Not so successful. But I think most of us do want more personal freedom.

So, fear of the unknown and a desire for personal freedoms is true for every one of us.

As we move ahead, we need to allow the unknown to be a place of sweet potential unfolding in front of us. An unknown space where we will honor our own intentions. Where we can see our own personal values unfold. A place of personal freedom. We can do this regardless of the government in power. Contracting into fear of this unknown is not how that happens. Judging our neighbors is not how that happens. Projecting all kinds of despair and worst case scenarios is not how this happens. Indulging in the news and/or obsessively reading articles is not how this happens. Expanding into clarity is how it happens.

Very practically, it means finding the places in our bodies where that fear is clenching. Your gut? Your head? Your heart? Bring that grip into your awareness. Now imagine relaxing that, softening that. Now imagine letting that relaxed and softer tension open up instead of contracting. Meditation is a great place for all of this—so is a walk in nature, or hike up a mountain, or a quiet sit on your couch. The silence can soften it, and your intention for clarity can let it open. Listen for your own values, your own intentions, how you want to live, and what you value.

We have a tremendous opportunity here. In the face of chaos and fear, can you rise up and be clear? Instead of reacting, can you respond to your own truth and continue to live in accordance to what you value? In the face of chaos, can you be free? If the government will not pay for woman’s reproductive heath, it means planned parenthood needs a new funding system, and perhaps a much more efficient administration. It means you can value it regardless. Today there has been a wave of private donations to Planned Parenthood. The big money in Silicon Valley is going towards innovation and clean energy, even if the government pulls out of the Paris Agreement. Nobody thinks investing in fossil fuels is the future. Everybody wants a Tesla, regardless of what the republicans promised the lobbyists. We live in a world that does not require government assistance. That is the personal freedom we actually have. And the opportunity we have right now.

It is going to be Jan 2018 before we know anything about this presidency. The American people have survived a long history of terrible, ill-prepared, and inexperienced presidents. Every country in the world has. Currently, England is figuring out how to recover from a blow even worse than this. Personally, I think this all has a signature of healing, of upending nationalism and expanding globalism. And Trump as POTUS is not going to stop globalism. What happens when everyone is truly equal? One world? But right now it is the unknown, and the very best way to approach that is from the still quiet place in you.